Between the meeting and being met: health policy for public service workers

Abstract

The relationships in the work world reflect upon the health/disease processes of public servants. Our purpose was to comprehend how the policies within Public Service Occupational Health are viewed. We present reports by representatives of seven public institutions from a municipality in southwestern Bahia. The reports were mediated from the following question: “Tell me about your experience in the occupational health field and how you view this policy in the municipality and in the agency in which you are”. Data were analyzed through the phenomenological method with the emergence of seven categories: 1) structuring of services: institutionalization of services in the municipal health network; 2) actions and guidelines: diffusion on the subject; 3) teams and services: registration of work-related illnesses; 4) health care for public servants by means of public policies: lack of actions. 5) main occupational health demands: RSI/WRMSD, mental disorders; 6) limits and difficulties: bureaucracy, managers’ replacements; 7) lack of protocol and planning: specific actions. Conclusion: need for expanding actions by aiming at public servants’ health and providing visibility for this need through measurable data and diffusion. Indication of larger space for discussion within public Institutions.